Here I Am, Here I Stand
by Ignitious
Summary: Lana is beginning to have second thoughts about her relationship with Pit. Meanwhile, Dark Pit takes notice that his jovial counterpart isn't his usual self as his girlfriend is hiding an secret from him. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, Dark Pit confronts Lana as the two engage in an deep discussion. Takes place a bit after Lost in this Dance. [Pit x Lana, Dark Pit x Lucina]
1. Illusions

**Greetings everyone! For those who've read and followed my two-shot story, "When I Laid Eyes Upon You"[an Dark Pit x Lucina fic btw. If you stumble upon this and happen to be a fan of Kurocina, I suggest reading the drabble. :)], towards the end of the second part, I recalled originally wanting to do this as an one-shot work but instead, I decided to break it up into parts. I honestly don't know how many yet but if you're a fan of shorter/broken up chapters, then you'll be bound to be happy that you wouldn't have to read my drabbles which usually tend to range(for the most part) from 5k-10k words, especially in my high school AU fic(which I need to work on/fix errors) "The Rise and Fall of Marth Lowell."**

**Now, this is an belated birthday gift dedicated to an special friend I've stumbled upon two years ago on tumblr back when I was writing the original version of TRAFOML before I realized I despised the direction it was going in. She happens to run an amazing sideblog which has over 5k followers I believe and the way she handles everything amazes me. I honestly don't know how she does it, but we both happened to be adoring fans of Pit and Lana(from Hyrule Warriors).**

**Besides some university friends, she was also one of the people who helped inspired me to write my first Pit x Lana(trying to decide on PiLana or Lanit as an ship name) drabble "Lost In This Dance." I am going to tell you ahead of time, I suggest reading that story first before diving into this one since it takes place a few months after the fateful encounter.**

**So, in dedication to the lovely and fantastic SSBF/Rinruu/GuardianLana/All the other aliases she goes by on tumblr, I present to you a snippet of your late birthday gift. I hope you read it, forever cherish and love it because you continue to inspire me still to this day.**

**I apologize for the lengthy author's note at the beginning, but now let's divine in. Note, I am going to warn you though that this will contain Hyrule Warriors spoilers and unless you've already played the game/watched the one hour, forty something minute video on Youtube(which I don't mind linking if you ask me for it in an PM) or you don't care about spoilers or mind them, then I would turn back now.**

* * *

__  
PART ONE  
~Illusions~  
__

_"Here I am…"_

An vast, calming breeze traveling by, stroking nearby objects and botanical life within its path as it journeyed north. The palm leaves rustled, murmuring other palm trees nearby in the midst of night, waves lapping against the shore as the tide commences to rise. The ever infinite night sky shined brightly, the stars glistening amongst one another, leading those out at sea to safety in the midst of nightfall. If it weren't for the blistering wind passing by, everything would be silent, all except for the tide's susurration.

Around this time in the depths of twilight, the residents of Smash Manor and the town which sat nearby were sound asleep in their own beds, dreaming the night away in solitude. A young, sky-blue haired female stood in front of the store, engulfed by her own thoughts. She slowly inhaled before exhaling, taking a deep breath as she placed her left arm over her chest, glancing down at the sand beneath her.

_"Why am I still here? If I do end up ceasing to exist, it'll only end up hurting you. These emotions are quite overwhelming but alas, I know all favorable things must come to an end soon."_

A tear rolled down past her cheek, embracing the terrain beneath her feet. Her chest started to ache once more as her internal pain turned into muffled sobs. She couldn't believe how foolish she was, to think she was able to fall in love and forever be with the one she cherished the most but in spite of it all, second thoughts began striking her at every opportunity it could grasp its avaricious hands on.

_"Pit deserves better than me… I thought every moment I've spent with him since the day we've first met at the ball could persevere however, lately, I haven't been feeling like myself. I almost feel as if I'm… fusing back with her to… become one… again."_

The young girl's subtle cries swiftly turned into sonorous sobbing. The white sorceress couldn't keep her emotions in check anymore, letting out the melancholy she subsided within her subconscious since the day she was born. Lana began reminiscing the first time she began experiencing these doubts since the week she arrived at the mansion.

* * *

The green haired goddess sat in the manor library, engrossed in her own studies. Palutena couldn't help but learn about the foreign cultures of the other fighters on her spare time. She felt that it would not only help her grasp an better understanding of their mannerisms but also have an slight advantage over them when they were to engage in battle. Her studies were abruptly cut short by none other than her ecstatic general, Pit.

"Lady Palutena! Lady Palutena!" he chirped loudly, repeating himself to make sure he was heard.

The goddess of light perked up, smiling. She was used to always seeing the general of Skyworld in such high spirits but never up the roof. The lime haired woman wondered if Pit managed to find some ice cream off the floor or something, proclaiming it gives him health.

"You awfully seem to be in extremely high spirits today Pit," said the goddess, keeping her warm smile. "Is there something you wish to tell me about?"

The brunet frantically waved his head, his grin curling wide as his cheeks gave off an hue of salmon red. Trying his best to compose his thoughts into one sentence, the light angel couldn't help but express himself as he began doing little gestures as he tried his best to convey his words into an coherent sentence however, failed at doing so.

"Guess what?! Guess what?! GUESS WHAT?!" Pit boasted, jumping up and down gleefully. He tried his best to contain his excitement as much as possible but couldn't quite conceal it.

Palutena chuckled at the angel's sudden burst of energy, finding it to be quite adorable. Even though she's put him through many hardships in the past, the goddess felt like an mother watching her overjoyed child proudly exclaim about their huge surprise. So, just like an parent would do, the green haired deity responded in a way an child would want them to.

"What is it that you're trying to tell me Pit? Did you happen to stumble upon some ice cream today? Or perhaps, did you manage to claim victory over your own doppelganger in today's match?" guessed the goddess of light.

"It's even better than that!" exclaimed the happy-go-luck angel. "My girlfriend's coming over to the manor to visit me for the week. You remember me telling you about her, right Lady Palutena?"

"Of course Pit. How could I ever forget about hearing you ramble on and on about Lana. In fact, it's almost as if the white witch managed to put an spell on you. Soon, she'll cast another one of her spells in an flash, prying you off my hands and into her own. In fact, I see lots of laundry, cleaning around, and furthermore, cooking in your future Pit," the goddess of light replied, teasing her general.

Pit of course, frowned a bit in response. He always got a bit worried when Palutena teased him, seeing how sometimes she could be serious and stand by what she's said. Because of her nature of doing so, some of the participants can't ever tell if she is truly joking with them or not.

"Lady Palutena," whined the chestnut haired angel, "don't scare me like that, geez. The last thing I need to worry about is how much detergent goes into the washing machine and if reds are to be washed separately from whites."

"Oh Pit," said Palutena, smiling once more. "You truly never cease to amazing me. Where would I honestly be without you seeing how your other half has an mind of his own. Speaking of Pittoo, I wouldn't be surprised if he's gawking at an certain Ylissean princess. After all, his fondness for her has grown over the duration he's been here."

Dark Pit sat on top of the tree branch, peering over in Lucina's direction. Out of the entire group of various fighters, to include assist trophies and the special guests he met thus far in the humble abode, the crimson-eyed angel always had an eager fondness for the Hero King's descendant. To him, her natural beauty was like no other which was complimented by her soft and gentle nature. He knew the hardships she's experienced in the past, let alone an traumatic nightmare which prevented her from getting an full night's rest. In the beginning, the black haired angel didn't pay much heed to his little crush on the princess, believing himself to only be experiencing an temporary infatuation or so he repeatedly told himself.

It wasn't until that fateful day when she beckoned him to be her date for the dance. He full heartedly recalled putting up an front to prevent his lighter half from catching on about his newfound feelings for Lucina, otherwise Dark Pit would never hear the end of it. Furthermore, Pit was the type to proudly boast about his twin's accomplishment amongst his friends, especially to the radiant, divine woman whom he pledged to forever serve and protect, Lady Palutena, otherwise known as the goddess of light. An faint grin began taking form upon his lips curling, reminiscing the azure haired swordswoman's smile. Out of everything Pit's overconfident doppelganger could wish for, it was to see Lucina smile once more, let alone take her hand and finally confess his feelings to her. Everything about her made him feel extremely elated yet it quickly scurried off once he remembered that he was only an clone and nothing more.

As much as Pit heavily badgered him for his attitude or even rambling about topics he could care less about, the dark angel was thankful that he saw him as his own brother rather than an incomplete shadow. However, in spite of it all, it really didn't help that the green haired floozy or the goddess of nature herself constantly reminded him that he was only Pit's doppelganger and nothing more. He loathed the fact that if Pit were to somehow get involved in an fatal event and lose his life in the process, he himself, will cease to exist. Dark Pit knew his existence didn't matter much else to anyone nor did he really care however, he knew his death will be too much for the Ylissean princess. Pit promised him that he would do anything he can in his power to figure out how to make him his own person but hasn't found out how.

Realizing that he was getting consumed by his own thoughts and the endless sea of his own worries, Dark Pit shook his head, snapping out of it. He leaned on the tree branch, observing Lucina, who seemed to be engaged in an conversation with none other than the famed tactician Robin and Meta Knight.

"Lucina, you seemed to be troubled," Robin exclaimed, "Is something up?"

The swordswoman lowered her hear a bit, facing the other direction as she looked quite doleful. Lucina took an deep breath, pausing for an moment or two before replying to her father's most trusted companion.

"It appears that I've either misplaced or lost an treasured memento my mother handed down to me when I was born," answered the princess. She gave off another frustrated sigh, combined with the mixture of both being quite upset and in disbelief. Lucina felt foolish to lose something that not only has an huge significant importance but also, it was the only thing she had left of her actual mother. As much as she loved her parents, deep down, she knew they belonged to none other than her infant self. Lucina couldn't help be heavily envy the baby yet was glad the child is going to live an happy and care-free life and furthermore, not having to worry about any future threats which lie ahead.

"Perhaps we can help you look for it," suggested Meta Knight. The small warrior was wrapped up in his own thoughts for an minute before adding onto his reply.

"Let's start by retracing your steps. Where was the last place you were at?"

"Well, I was sparring earlier with the Hero King himself in the training room," Lucina replied. She became a bit hopeful, praying to Naga that the treasured item accidentally slipped during her training session with Marth.

"Well then, let's head over to the training facility," said Robin.

Lucina began making her way back towards the mansion alongside Robin and Meta Knight as they took off for the training facility.

* * *

As the trio left, Dark Pit got up and hopped down, getting an idea. The more aggressive angel decided that he himself, was best suited for the task of finding the object that means so much to Lucina. Rubbing his chin for a moment or two, Dark Pit made an mental note to check the beach later at night to see if t somehow winded up along the shorelines. As he began trotting his way to the mansion, Dark Pit was taken aback, rubbing his eyes as he saw something, no, someone for an split second before they disappeared into thin air.

He was able to get an good glimpse of the face before the illusion, ghost, or whatever it was took off. The figure turned out to be none other than a woman, however, something about her face seemed extremely familiar yet he couldn't pinpoint it at all. As the young angel got consumed by his own thoughts, Pit's voice quickly pierced through it, grabbing him and pulling him back into reality.

"HEY PITTOO!" shouted the chirpy angel, "guess who's here?!"

"Oh great… just the person I wanted to see…" he muttered to himself.

Pit finally caught up with him, holding Lana's hand as the girl blushed a bit before giggling.

"Pit-stain, what is it that you want now? Make it quick, I got important business to attend to," exclaimed Dark Pit. He'd slightly bend his wrist backwards before moving it in an circular motion, as if telling Pit to hurry up.

"Lana just wanted to greet you Pittoo, that's all," beamed the other angel.

The white sorceress' smiled, giggling once more as she waved at the other angel twin.

"Hi Pittoo!" chirped the witch, "how are things faring with you?"

"For the love of god, stop calling me that ridiculous nickname. And second, I have better things to do than to waste my time chatting away with you and Pit-stain both!" barked the dark haired angel. Before she or Pit had the chance to reply, Dark Pit already have turned his back on them, leaving the premises as he went to look for the missing item. As he returned back to his own thoughts, a sudden realization struck him.

The woman he saw for an brief moment heavily resembled Lana herself.

_"Just who the hell is that woman anyways and even more, why is her spirit roaming around here to begin with? Now, what strikes me the most is, why does she look so much like Pit's stupid girlfriend?"_

Realizing the answer, Dark Pit felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner, especially since he learned about this months ago.

The illusion his eyes just encountered a few moments earlier was none other than the spirit of Lana's other half, the dark sorceress, Cia.

* * *

**Don't worry folks, she's just an figment of our imagination. Even better, it's 8 am and I should be in bed then again, I always seem to get the motivation to write stories at four in the morning. 8D**

**So of course, I'll look back and clean errors later on when I get up.**

**Note that I was inspired by the song "Here I Am[Kaskade Remix]" by David Morales when I thought of the idea for the story. If I'm not mistaken, the song was in the film The Devil Wears Prada. I suggest listening to it on Youtube if you like electronic dance music or any dance music that sounds soft.**

**Now, the question everyone wants to know is, what and why is Cia's here? Is Lana possibly hiding something from Pit or perhaps, her time might be cut short soon before she ceases to exist. And furthermore, what is the item that Lucina's suddenly missing? Feel free to guesstimate and come up with your own theories.**

**I did say that this story will heavily discuss the differences between Dark Pit and Lana regarding about their character since they're both not the original counterparts. However, I'm not going to be revealing the differences just yet, seeing how that would entirely give the story away completely. I know how the story's going to go as it's all planned out(and I got other parts of it typed out already) and whatnot so I'm going to once again, leave it up to you guys to guess if the ending's going to be happy or quite depressing.**

**I hope my love for Pit x Lana rubs off on people because this pairing is just too adorable to pass up. Knowing me, I'll probably be that one person who will literally read every PiLana story written, to include ones with the pairing not as the main focus, not only because its my OTP but also since I first came up with it. :'D**

**That, and Lana(and Cia) honestly deserve much better especially since I honestly felt that they were underdeveloped in the game, more so Lana than anything else but, that's just my opinion though.**

**Anyways, Until next time.**  
**-Ash**


	2. Discovery

**I need to stop finding my writing spark at four in the morning. D:  
Anyways, going to put a warning for some OOC.**

* * *

_  
PART TWO  
~ Discovery~  
_

The talkative angel took his significant other on one of his many famous grand tours around the residency. He showed a plethora of rooms ranging from the study to even the dining hall. Not much of the fighters appeared to be lingering around at the time due to their weekly scheduled matches. As the two journeyed onward, they happened to pass by the training room in which Lucina, Robin and Meta Knight were inside, searching for the lost item.

Being curious, Pit slightly walked back, peering over as he narrowed his gaze for a moment before stepping inside. He ushered for Lana to follow seeing how the angel didn't want to make her feel like the odd one out in the chateau.

The aqua haired girl stepped inside, dusting off her skirt to wipe off potential particles of dirt as their entrance startled the other three.

"Oh hey guys, have I've introduced you to my girlfriend yet?" asked Pit, grinning. He knew it wasn't the right time nor place to be even asking that sort of question, yet, the brunet's fondness for the sorceress overwhelmed his concern for their current situation.

"Um, I'd hate to be the bearer of grave news Pit but we're in the middle of trying to help Lucina find an missing item," Robin exclaimed, sighing. He didn't mean to come off as rude or stingy but the tactician didn't want to lose focus on the possibility of finding the odds.

"No, no, it's fine," exclaimed Lucina, waving her arms as if telling both Meta Knight and Robin that it's okay. "After all, the last thing I want to come off as is rude," she added. "Anyways, I'm Lucina of Ylisse. The masked warrior here from the planet Popstar is Meta Knight while Mr. Grumpy over here is none other than Ylisstol's famed tactician, Robin."

"Ahem…." Robin gave out a heavy sigh, being flustered by the Ylissean princess' comment about him.

Lana looked at the trio, her lips curling as she beamed in delight. Chuckling a bit, she moved her limbs a bit to stretch them out.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, I'm Lana," greeted the white witch. She decided to pace back and forth, rubbing her temples before coming up with an idea. She grinned wide as she lifted her left foot, moving it forward as she did a slight twirl when she faced the small group.

"You're missing an item right? Mind if I help look for it as well? I'm sure Pit wouldn't mind helping either, right?" she said, laughing a bit.

"Y-yeah, of course," replied the angel. He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling a bit before sighing. His original plan was to show Lana around the manor both inside and out but it didn't hurt to help some good pals look for something. Perhaps tomorrow he'll continue where he had left off.

The five began scoping around, checking every nook and cranny to include narrow spaces for the item. Lana glanced back, curious to what exactly was it that they were searching for in the first place.

"May I ask, what was it did you exactly lose Lucina?" asked the light-blue haired girl, being extremely curious.

"An gold necklace engraved with sapphire gems," replied the azure haired fighter, "it was an gift from my mother."

"I see…"

Lana felt that it wasn't in the right place nor was it her business to press Lucina for more answers about her backstory. After all, she just met the princess and the last thing the maiden wanted to do was leave an negative impression in their mouths.

* * *

After an few hours later, the group checked around the entire mansion but to no avail, the necklace wasn't seen in sight. It was now evening time as the gang realized they missed supper time, Pit sighing sadly as his stomach growled a bit.

"Aww, I missed dinner…" whined the angel, pouting a bit. "Now I'm going to starve!"

Lana quickly remembered something as she dug through her sack, taking out an fresh apple she managed to pluck from a tree earlier. The sorceress extended out her right arm, handing it to her boyfriend.

"Here," she said, "I think you need it a whole lot more than I do."

"R-really? Are you sure about this?! I mean, I'd hate to leave you starving," he replied, feeling a bit guilty for even wanting to swipe the apple from her.

Lana smiled, nodding as she ushered for him to pry it off her hands.

The angel figured she wasn't going to stop until he ate it. He admired how selfless his girlfriend was, especially compared to him. Pit felt that he got extremely lucky that the two managed to meet by chance, even more so, fall in love. Sometimes, he'd have second thoughts, thinking he didn't deserve her, especially how pure she was compared to him. After all, he still manage to suppress his darker thoughts with his twin thankfully, expressing his actual opinion on certain subjects for him. As he took a bite of the apple and thanked Lana while his mouth was fool, he happened to hear a familiar voice behind him.

"I told you he'd be desperate for food. I'm surprised he didn't get down on his knees and practically beg for the apple."

Turning around, it was none other than Viridi, the goddess of nature standing alongside Palutena. She gave Pit a taunting grin before feasting her eyes on an unfamiliar face which happened to be none other than Lana.

"What's this?" exclaimed Viridi, "I didn't think Pit would actually ever get an girlfriend but I guess I was quite wrong. You're from the same world as Link and Zelda, am I correct?"

"Yes," answered Lana. Viridi seemed to intimidate her at first however, she could tell deep down like all people, she has good qualities as well. The white sorceress always believed in spite of someone's actions, she believed them to be good at heart regardless of their alliance.

"That's quite interesting because I don't really recall your presence in such timelines. Which era do you fall under anyways? Hyrule's decline? The child era or perhaps, the adult era leading into the Hero of Wind and A New World?"

Before Lana could answer, Palutena jumped in the conversation, holding out her staff in place as if to tell Viridi enough already. After all, the young child was a guest at the estate and the least thing she needed was to be overwhelmed by the other goddess' special talent.

"Don't mind her," said Palutena, smiling, "she kind of gets carried away sometimes depending if someone perks her interest. Oh, I've just realized I we haven't properly met yet. I'm Palutena, goddess of light and small fry here is the goddess of nature, Viridi. We're from the same world as Pit and Dark Pit if you've met him yet."

"Oh, Pittoo? I've met him a couple of months ago at the dance. He's really something however I find him to be quite adorable, not as cute as Pit here," she replied, pinching Pit's cheek.

"H-hey!"

The angel turned cherry face, causing Palutena to snicker a bit.

"Ah, young love… I've forgotten how charming it was. In fact, ever since he's met you, Pit chat my ear off all about you. I'm quite surprised it hasn't fallen out yet from his motor mouth," the green haired goddess responded in an joking matter.

"Lady Palutena," whined Pit, "you're embarrassing me."

"You're quite captivating when flustered Pit. Now, I wonder what embarrasses Pittoo…" Palutena seemed to be captivated in her own thoughts for a moment, trying to push for possible ideas. She began reminiscing as she realized Pit's doppelganger had literally what mortals dubbed as puppy love for Lucina.

* * *

While the two goddesses exchanged words with the couple, Dark Pit on the other hand seemed to be looking for Lucina. Since he's spent the whole day trying to find her relic, the crimson eyed angel realized he hasn't at least made small talk with her for the day. As he spotted her, he gave out a small grin as he began heading towards her, only to be stopped in his tracks.

He groaned a bit in frustration as he saw Lucina conversing with none other than her father's trustworthy companion Robin. Dark Pit couldn't help but feel jealous seeing how they were almost practically inseparable. As much as he refused to admit it, one of his biggest fears was that Robin also felt the same way about the princess as well. Since they already formed bonds with one another, he assumed right away if Lucina were given a choice between him and the white haired genius, she'd choose Robin over him.

Sighing, he couldn't help but eavesdrop on her conversation. After all, he mentally dubbed the strategist as his rival and wanted to spy on the enemy's every move.

"We'll check the beach first thing in the morning," he said, trying his best to reassure his best friend's daughter.

"Robin, I doubt the necklace will really be there especially if the tide's already started. I'm sure it's been washed up by now, sitting in the bottom of the ocean," exclaimed Lucina. Sighing deeply, the princess looked down.

"I'm going to call it an night… I need some time to myself for a while."

She walked slowly through the corridor, heading towards her assigned dorm room as she opened the door before gently shutting it behind.

"…"

* * *

In the midst of night, Dark Pit woke up, double checking to see if Pit was still fast asleep. Seeing that the coast was clear, he made his way out of the mansion and made his way towards the harbor that wasn't too far from the chateau. When he got closer to his destination, he began feeling a slight breeze which caused him to sneeze.

Heading towards the shoreline, Dark Pit began to stare at the ground intensely for anything out of the ordinary. When his eyes gazed upon an golden necklace, he quickly dashed for it, removing it from the sand as he observed it. The dark angel couldn't help but grin wide, knowing how to make Lucina's day tomorrow.

Seeing how he had neither more business nor intention to be at the beach, the doppelganger started heading back however, saw a flash. Turning around, there he encountered the dark sorceress' spirit once more. Dark Pit examined her as she seemed to be fixated by the ocean's current.

_"Now this is just getting strange. Either Cia's ghost followed Pit's annoying girlfriend or she's trying to convey a message to me out of all people, but what?"_

The arrogant counterpart of Pit couldn't help but feel a bit miffed at this, seeing how she seemed to only occur whenever he was alone. Huffing a bit, he decided not to waste his time with this any longer as he made his way back towards the Smash Mansion. Despite his game plan, he heard the voice of an mature woman behind in.

_"Don't make the same mistake I did…."_

The black haired angel hastily turned around, just to see no one there. It appeared the spirit descended once more.

"Who the hell said that just now…?" He groaned a bit, placing his right hand on his forehead as he winced a bit.

"I should really start sleeping more, otherwise I'm going to lose it," he thought to himself out loud.

Dark Pit did however, thought of a nickname to counter back with if Lana keeps on persisting by calling him Pittoo.

_"Guess I better get some shut eye before Pit-stain and Cittoo drag me out of bed tomorrow."_

* * *

Little did he know, the dark angel wasn't the only one who seemed to be up late at night. Viridi also happened to catch a glimpse of the spirit as well due to her room having an ocean view.

"Well, looks like an certain someone's days are outnumbered furthermore, she isn't supposed to even exist! Wait until I tell Palutena and the others about my grand discovery tomorrow."

After pondering for about a few more minutes, Viridi slept peacefully.

* * *

**And that's the end of part two.**

**I apologize for the errors and whatnot that have occurred within the read.**

**Also, I'd like to heavily thank kaabisteru for pointing out an common problem of mine. Unfortunately, I've read your review after I've finished this part(so the repetitive descriptions are sadly there and thus, churned out once more) but I'll definitely keep it in mind. Note that the first part it's based on has more errors, which I plan on going back and fixing up sometime in the future.**

**This time, I'm not going to say much about what happened thus far in the author's notes, so instead, I'll leave you with this quote from Anne Frank.**  
**"In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart."**

**For me, headcanon wise, I've always viewed Lana as seeing the good in others regardless of who they are of what they've done.**

**Until next time,**  
**-Ash**


End file.
